Three held for raping American woman

Police on Thursday arrested three accused for the gangrape of a 31-year-old American tourist near Manali on June 4. Addressing a press conference here, superintendent of police Vinod Kumar Dhawan said all three accused were Nepalese.

Police on Thursday arrested three accused for the gangrape of a 31-year-old American tourist near Manali on June 4.

Addressing a press conference here, superintendent of police Vinod Kumar Dhawan said all three accused were Nepalese.

Two accused – 22-year-old Arjun and 24-year-old Lakki - were arrested from Patlikuhl, 20 km from Kullu, and one accused Som Bahadur Tamang, 24, was arrested by the Mandi police when he was trying to flee the district along with a woman.

Arjun was residing near Hotel Holiday Inn, Manali, Lakki near Club Mahindra, Prini, Manali, and Tamang at Aleo, Manali, 275 km from Shimla.

He said the police had also seized the mini-tipper bearing registration number HP-58-3649 in which the trio had given a lift to the woman.

Dhawan said the forensic team had taken evidence from the vehicle and sent it for examination.

He said, “We have requested the Himachal high court to put this case on trial basis for speedy justice to the victim.”

The owner of the vehicle Manoj Kumar, a resident of Dhungri, a km from Manali, told police that he had employed Arjun as a driver only six days before the incident on daily-wage basis.

According to the SP, investigation is in progress and the accused will be produced in court on Friday. The articles stolen from the woman, including her iPad and Nikon camera, are yet to be recovered from the accused.

Meanwhile, an official from the American embassy has reached Manali in connection with the case.